{"id":25379,"date":"2014-04-09T09:38:10","date_gmt":"2014-04-09T13:38:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.technologyinvestor.com\/?p=25379"},"modified":"2014-04-09T13:22:21","modified_gmt":"2014-04-09T17:22:21","slug":"health-care-and-bx-apo-and-kkr","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.technologyinvestor.com\/?p=25379","title":{"rendered":"Health care and BX, APO and KKR"},"content":{"rendered":"

Initial thoughts on the latest spate of health care articles:<\/p>\n

+ Medical bills are the primary cause of personal bankruptcy in the U.S.<\/p>\n

+ I need to ask what procedures will cost before I get them.<\/p>\n

+ I need to check what my insurance covers and doesn’t cover.<\/p>\n

+ I need to shop around for elective stuff — especially looking overseas to Europe or Asia.<\/p>\n

+ I need to check if my doctor is ripping off Medicare.<\/p>\n

+ I need to check if BN (benign neglect) wouldn’t work much better. It worked on my shoulder rotator cuff problem, saving thousands.<\/p>\n

Here’s material to read this morning:<\/p>\n

+ Small Slice of Doctors Account for Big Chunk of Medicare Costs. Top 1% of Medical Providers Accounted for 14% of Billing, Federal Data Show. From the Wall Street Journal, click here.<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

\u00a0+ Sliver of Medicare Doctors Get Big Share of Payouts. From the New York Times, click here.<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

+ See how much your doctor received from Medicare. From the New York Times, an on-line database. Click here.<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

+ See how the Times got much of its information. Click here.<\/a><\/strong> Here’s the introduction to that piece:<\/p>\n

\n

Deepika Singh got three stitches for a gash on her knee, generating a bill of $2,229 in San Francisco. Deirdre Yapalater\u2019s colonoscopy<\/a>, performed in under an hour at an outpatient surgery center on Long Island, resulted in charges of $6,385. Michael Shopenn acquired an artificial hip<\/a> manufactured in Indiana and flew to Belgium to have it installed, costing him $13,660, a small fraction of the $100,000 his local hospital in Seattle would have charged.<\/p>\n

When Kim Little had a small lesion removed from her cheek<\/a>, the total bill came to over $25,000. Renee Martin called her local hospital to get an estimate for her pregnancy, which was not covered by her insurance<\/a>, and was told that it would be between $4,000 and $45,000. She asked: \u201cHow can you not know this, you\u2019re a hospital?\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Whatever is happening to BX, APO and KKR? <\/strong>They actually did what I said they would — rise strongly and pay a big dividends in the first quarter. What I didn’t figure was their recent crashing. Here are their charts compared to a simple 50 and 200 day moving average. On that comparison APO has fared worse and I’ve completely dumped it. It exceeded by Stop Loss Rule.
\n<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Blackstone has done marginally better (i.e. less worse). But I can’t find any significant reason for its drop. According to a piece on the WKRB site:<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

The Blackstone Group L.P. (NYSE:BX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The company reported $0.68 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.64 by $0.04. The company had revenue\"\"<\/a> of $2.69 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.39 billion. Analysts expect that The Blackstone Group L.P. will post $3.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.<\/p>\n

Several other analysts have also recently commented on the stock. Analysts at Morgan Stanley reiterated a \u201cpositive\u201d rating on shares of The Blackstone Group L.P. in a research note on Wednesday, March 19th. Separately, analysts at Zacks<\/a> reiterated a \u201cneutral\u201d rating on shares of The Blackstone Group L.P. in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. They now have a $34.50 price\"\"<\/a> target on the stock. Finally, analysts at JMP Securities raised their price target on shares of The Blackstone Group L.P. from $20.00 to $42.00 in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. The company currently has a consensus rating of \u201cBuy\u201d and an average target price of $51.22.<\/p>\n

The Blackstone Group L.P. (NYSE:BX<\/a>) is a manager of private capital and provider of financial advisory services.<\/p>\n

I have dumped some of my BX. And depending on today’s movements, may dump all of it. I’ve made a profit on it. Maybe I’ll come back in at a lower price, like $28.<\/p>\n

\"BlackstoneOneYearAgainAgain\"<\/span><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

\"APOAGain\"<\/a><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\"KKR\"<\/a> <\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Index fund returns.<\/strong> <\/span><\/p>\n

IVV earned 1.80%<\/strong> in the first quarter of 2014, versus 1.81%<\/strong> for the S&P Index, which it’s meant to be matching. In 2013, IVV earned 32.31%<\/strong> versus 32.39%<\/strong> for the S&P 500. I don’t know the reason for the discrepancy. I do know that IVV — a boring index fund — earned more than most mutual funds last year. For more, click here.<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

Vanguarad also has an S&P 500 ETF which is called VOO. It rose 29.7% in 2013. But that number may be wrong. And 1.80% in the first quarter. Vanguard’s reporting is weird. They either assume you’re an idiot or they’re fiddling with their numbers. You can check out more here.<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

Still running on Windows XP? <\/strong>The Economist makes a persuasive case for upgrading to Windows 7. I’ve done that on my two main working machines. And they work fine. There are features of 7 that are better than XP, like the Snipping Tool, but you may find you have programs that don’t work on 7. I have one old machine still running XP, which I use for old software that I don’t want to upgrade.\u00a0 <\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

If you’re mulling the switch from XP, you must read the Economist piece, “End of the road for Windows XP.”<\/p>\n

\"EndoftheRoadforXP\"<\/a><\/p>\n

For the Economist piece, click here.<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

NDAs?<\/strong> <\/span>I don’t sign Non-Disclosure Agreements. They either trust me, or they don’t. But, if I sign one, I’m at legal risk. For what benefit? The opportunity in their Shiny New Thing. Their sure-fire investment? Am I cynical? Yes. Am I too cynical? Absolutely not.<\/p>\n

Books I’m reading:<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\"FlashBoysSmall\"<\/a><\/p>\n

The markets are rigged by the high frequency traders. His numbers are mindblowing — investors are being ripped off — and his stories are persuasive.<\/p>\n

Shortly, if you trade with Interactive Brokers<\/strong> and\/or TradeStation<\/strong> you’ll be able to direct your trades to IEX — where you should get you better execution — cheaper price to buy and higher price when you sell. I wrote about all the front running and other unsavory practices pursued by high frequency traders this last week: Click here<\/strong><\/a>, here<\/strong><\/a> and here.<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

All this bad PR, that high speed frequency trading and dark pools have been getting is causing huge changes in the “industry.” From the Wall Street Journal yesterday:<\/p>\n

Goldman Sachs is considering shutting down one of the world\u2019s largest private stock-trading venues. In conversations with market participants over the past several months, Goldman executives have broached the subject of closing its so-called dark pool trading operation, known as Sigma X, people familiar with the matter said.<\/p>\n

Goldman executives are weighing whether the revenue the firm generates from operating Sigma X is worth the risks that have been highlighted by a series of trading glitches and growing criticism of dark pools, the people said. No decision is imminent, and Goldman could keep the business, according to people familiar with the discussions.<\/p>\n

\"WrongEnemy\"<\/a><\/p>\n

We may be fighting the wrong enemy in the wrong country.<\/em> — the late Richard Holbrooke<\/p>\n

He was right. The enemy is Pakistan. They actively encourage the Taliban with money, intelligence and safe haven — think where we found Bin Laden. Yet, for some reason, we (the U.S.) give them big military aid. Go figure.<\/p>\n

Delightful video.<\/strong> <\/span>Now you know where all those feel-good commercials come from.<\/p>\n

\"GenericBrandVideo\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Click here.<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

Favorite drunk story.
\n<\/strong><\/span>Two drunks were walking down the railroad tracks.<\/p>\n

\"RailwayLine\"<\/a><\/p>\n

One drunk said, “Man, these steps are close together.”<\/p>\n

The other drunk said, “I can handle the steps, but why did they make the damn handrails so low?”<\/p>\n

\"HarryNewton\"<\/a>
\nHarry Newton who opines that, to every complex problem, there is always<\/strong> a simple solution. The key is to set yourself a rule: “When it looks hard, frightening (and expensive) and I haven’t done it before, I will allow myself 24-hours to research my alternatives and mull on them.” At that point, the solution will be bleedingly obvious and my brain will be in a better place. This works for everything — from your bank to the IRS.<\/p>\n